Sec. of State Wyman on Trump request for voter info

Hon. Kim Wyman July 5, 2017

I want to thank everyone who has posted and commented on this page the last few days about the request my office received late last week from the federal Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. I value your input and appreciate you sharing your opinion.

I will be clear: Despite their request, the Secretary of State’s office will NOT provide any of the following private voter information to the commission:
* Social Security number
* Driver’s license number
* Phone number
* E-mail address
* Where and how a voter registered
* Language preference
* Party affiliation

In Washington state, however, the law — RCW 29A.08.710(2) — specifically requires the following information from the state’s voter database MUST be made publicly available and accessible upon request:
* Name
* Address
* District
* Gender
* Date of birth
* Election in which a voter participated

While each state’s public records laws are different, here in Washington, that is the law and I am required to comply with the law. Further, as Secretary of State, I am not given any discretion to comply based upon who is requesting the information. That’s why that list of public information has long been publicly available from our website, and we have referred the commission to access it there themselves.

Finally, I spoke over the weekend to Gov. Inslee and he concurs that this response is what is legally required from our office to the commission’s request. (Which you can find posted on his Twitter account.)

As an elections administrator for over 20 years, I take very seriously my responsibility to protect the privacy of voters. As your Secretary of State, I also take very seriously my responsibility to follow state law. I believe this response to the commission is consistent with both of those principles.